End of the Road
by Metal Gear Prime
Summary: Chapter 2. Hunted by both the Autobots and Decepticons, Starscream struggles to survive on Cybertron...
1. Deal with the Devil

End of the Road

By Kingdom of Deke

Summary: Post Generation 2 comic. During the Second Golden Age of Cybertron peace at last reigns between Autobot and Decepticon. But the return of a long lost comrade could spell the end not only for the Transformers but for life as we know it…

Distribution: If you want to use this story on another website, contact me at kingdomofdeke@yahoo.com and we'll what can be done.

Chapter 1: Deal with the Devil

From deep within the Decepticon flagship _Conquest _the Liege Maximo allowed himself a small smile as he viewed the tactical data from his latest campaign. The planet of Midgar was now fully under Decepticon control, with almost non-exsistant troop losses and the securing of a massive supply of energon, enough to provide for the energy needs of his troops for decades to come.

"My liege?"

Maximo turned from the viewscreen to gaze at one of his personal guard. "What is it?"

"The Transformer who requested an audience with you is ready."

The merest hint of disgust crossed the Liege's face as he remembered his appointment. It had been three days ago that a lone shuttle had contacted the _Conquest_ requesting an audience with the Liege. It had come as a surprise to all onboard that the shuttle's pilot was not only a Generation 1 Transformer, but an Autobot as well. Taking the shuttle onboard the pilot was subjected to the most thorough search imaginable. When he was found to be unarmed, Maximo shocked his crew by granting the Autobot's request for an audience. The fact that he had the gall to actually seek out the most powerful of all the Generation 2 Decepticons and demand to see him impressed the Liege. At any rate, if the Autobot had nothing of value to offer or say, they could simply eliminate him with no hassle whatsoever.

Sitting on his throne, Maximo signaled the guardsman to let the Autobot in. The green and silver bot nodded and left the room, returning with a large Transformer, his armor a gleaming gold and black, his body strong and tough with a pair of black thin blades of metal formed into an X on his back. Maximo noticed that he wore no sigil anywhere on his body. Once he reached the throne's steps the Autobot bowed, smiling.

"My liege", the Autobot said, placing his fist against his chest plate in a Decepticon salute. "I am most honored that you have chosen to –"

"More matter, with less art", the Liege rumbled. He despised false platitudes.

The Autobot's smile never wavered.

"Of course, forgive me. I come to offer you a trade."

This amused the Liege.

"A trade, you say? And what could you offer me that I want?"

"The sparks of the Generation 1 Transformers, to do with as you wish."

This caused the Liege to pause, albeit briefly. "And in return?"

"In return", the Autobot said, finally getting to his feet, " you allow me to join your great army."

"You wish to join us? Are you not an Autobot?"

The Autobot's face darkened briefly before he won control of his emotions. "I was, once. I no longer wish to remain a part of that faction."

The Liege considered this for a moment. "How do you plan to carry out your end of the bargain?"

At this the Autobot's smile widened as he replied, "The Unicron Grimoire."

The Liege sat stunned for a moment at what the Autobot mentioned. 

"Is a myth", the Liege said, as if he were finishing the Autobot's sentence.

"Is real", the Autobot countered. "I have a contact on Cybertron who was a member of the Cult of Unicron some years back. He showed my holo-images of the book they had used as their Bible." The next words the Autobot spoke were just loud enough to barely hear. "He knows where it lays."

Almost stunned the Liege sat back on his throne and processed this information. Just as the Matrix was the repository of Primus's power, so too was the Unicron Grimoire the source of Unicron's power. It was said that, upon the Chaos-Bringer's death the Grimoire would absorb his full power and store it within the book's pages. The power of a Dark God, the prize for any who could decipher the book's key…or so the legend went.

The Liege was not one for believing in myths and legends. But then, that was what he had believed Primus and Unicron to be. The Unicron War of 1991 had shattered that illusion… 

"If you know where it is, why do you request our help?"

"The tunnels which lead to the book's resting place are heavily monitored", the Autobot explained. "I need either a significant distraction or a powerful strike force if I am to traverse the tunnels safely. Besides," At this point the Autobot's tone took on a vaguely hypnotic tone, "the power of the Grimoire can only be utilized by one whose spark is old enough and powerful enough to absorb it…one such as yourself, my Liege…"

Maximo thought about this. The power of a god, his to command…there would be no limit to how far the Decepticon cause could be furthered!

"I will grant your request Autobot. Be warned, however, that if you play me false…"

"That is the furthest thing from my mind, my Liege", the Autobot saluted and bowed again. "I shall return to Cybertron and make ready your arrival. Once all has been prepared I shall contact you."

Maximo watched the Autobot leave and allowed a rare smile to once again cross his face. The destruction of the ancient and obsolete Generation 1Transformers and the means to dominate the entire Universe…this endeavor could well prove to be the most profitable in galactic history. 

*****

Outside the throne room, the Autobot allowed himself a smile of his own. The part of his plan he thought would be the most difficult in fact proved to be the easiest. That power hungry fool would be the instrument with which he could – 

"Yeeeruuuuughhh…", the Autobot hissed as yet another unwanted memory hit him with enough force to force him into a crouching position.

_"I'm back…and I'm NOT happy!"_

_"Honestly, Prime…don't you have a muzzle for him?"_

_"How well we know each other…"_

"Damn you Megatron", the Autobot hissed as the memories faded. The chip which blocked the mind link was nigh on foolproof, but it still couldn't block out the memories, especially ones as recent as these.

"Oh well", the Autobot sighed as he got to his feet and made his way to the shuttle bay, "it won't be a problem for much longer."

And with that he chuckled.

To be continued…


	2. The Traitor's Exile

Chapter 2: The Traitor's Exile

Three days later, on Cybertron… 

Soundwave stood in front of the memorial silently, his expressionless face hiding his grief well as he gazed at the statue of Frenzy, the son he lost during the battle with the Swarm.

He hadn't been the only one, of course. Between the Swarm and the G2 Decepticons, Soundwave had seen many of his comrades destroyed: Ramjet, Dirge, Crankcase, Runamuck, Skullgrin, Octopunch, Stranglehold, Quake, the Combaticons…the list went on and on. Soundwave himself had been lucky not to join them when Megatron had arrived on Earth with the rheanmium at the literal last second.

Turning around to gaze at the rest of the Cybertronian Mausoleum, Soundwave reflected on how the Autobots had been similarly affected. Smokescreen, Inferno, Red Alert, Mirage, Slag, Nightbeat, Joyride, Slapdash, Slingshot…in the end, re-unification of both factions had been the only way to at least give them a fighting chance against their 'descendants'.

Sparing a final glance at Frenzy's statue, Soundwave exited the Mausoleum and headed for the command center. Ever since evidence had been found that only a small part of the G2 Decepticons' total army had been destroyed with Jhiaxus, it had become necessary to mobilize the Autobots who had retired from war and set up a new army with Prime and Megatron as the joint commanders and Soundwave and Grimlock as the joint sub-commanders. Every preparation had been made to prepare the original Cybertronians for whatever would be coming.

Before that, though, there was another urgent matter to attend to…

"Commander Soundwave! Message coming in from Silverbolt, Priority 2!" Skids called to the purple armored Decepticon as he entered the main control room.

"Onscreen."

Skids' hands danced across the control board, bringing the image of the Aerialbot commander and leader of Epsilon Squad onto the large viewscreen.

"Interrogative. Did you find Starscream?" Soundwave asked.

"Negative", Silverbolt replied. "We made a full sweep of Subsectors Senior and Wildman without any sightings."

"Understood. Return to base."

With a nod, Silverbolt's image disappeared as Soundwave mulled over the news. Over the past few months the Transformers had been hunting down Starscream for his betrayal in siding with Jhiaxus during the war. Megatron had finally decided to repay Starscream for the countless millennia of backstabbing and deceit that the former Air Commander had bestowed on him, a sentiment that Optimus fully agreed with. The Seeker had been declared an enemy of the state, with many squads assembled to find him. The failure of the airborne squad, consisting of Silverbolt, Skywarp, Springer, Thundercracker, Skydive, Divebomb, Swoop and Thrust, marked the fifth time Starscream had evaded them. Mentally cursing the Seeker's survival skills, Soundwave turned to Skids.

"Assemble Gamma Squad at Hangar D. I want them ready to go in 12 breems."

"You got it", the Autobot theoretician nodded, switching the intercom on.

As Skids relayed the order for Gamma Squad to assemble, Soundwave found himself praying to Primus that the matter could be resolved soon. A free Starscream was a wild card no one wanted around.

*****

Starscream watched as the last of Epsilon Squad transformed and took to the air. He waited until he was sure that he was outside of their hearing range before he let out a deafening screech and planted his fist through the wall of his makeshift shelter.

He almost had it all. Using the Matrix, he had fused himself with the Warworld and became a living weapon, trashing Jhiaxus' Decepticons in every battle he fought with them. This incarnation made the power boost he had received from the Underbase all those years ago seem like a pittance in comparison. In essence, the Universe was, to coin a human phrase, his oyster.

But, of course, things went horribly, disastrously wrong.

What Starscream had failed to realize about the Matrix was that, having been tainted by evil once before from its dalliances with the android known as Deathbringer, a parasitic predator on VsQs and the Decepticon known as Thunderwing, it was unwilling to go down this route again.

So what did it do? Instead of being influenced by its' new holder, in this case Starscream, it began to influence its' new holder.

Thanks to the Matrix, Starscream had ended up protecting Earth from Jhiaxus' attack and, even more humiliatingly, had helped Prime and Megatron to defeat himself. In the end, he had to give the Matrix back to Prime or end up becoming as nauseatingly pure and good as an Autobot.

Wrenching his hand free of the wall, Starscream hobbled out of his shelter and warily had a look around. In order to hide from the various Transformer squads, he had purposely been running on auxiliary power only in order to throw off heat and power sensors. Combined with a few hiding places he had found for himself in the early days of the war, (places he would retreat to whenever Megatron wanted to have a 'chat'), he had been able to successfully evade them for quite some time. The Transformers were the least of his worries, though.

Strange creatures, theorized to be Primus' first attempt at creating life, tended to roam the dark corners of Cybertron. The Dinobots were the first ones to meet the creatures during the aftermath of the battle with Unicron. Grimlock's transformation into a state the Cybertronian scientists had referred to as Transmetal was the only reason the Dinobots survived the encounter. Since then there had only been sporadic sightings and rumors concerning the metal beasts. Starscream had met four of the beings five months after returning to Cybertron from the Warworld. He had barely managed to escape thanks to his auxiliary power strategy and the serious wounds he incurred still lingered on his body due to the makeshift repairs he had had to make. 

_Still_, Starscream though as he trudged towards the next hiding spot, _with my former comrades and a race of cannibal mechanoids after me, it's beyond the realms of reality that things could get any worse._

Starscream had barely finished that thought when ten long, red mechanical fingers wrapped themselves around his midsection and grabbed him. Tightly.

_Aw, fuck it._

To be continued….        


End file.
